This was the blog of a blacksmith.
Soot Happens, but you clean yourself up when you need to (even if it takes years). If you find that life isn't where you want it, just toss it back in the coals, bring it to heat, and reforge.

Friday, July 08, 2011

So Much and So Little

It has been a while since my last post, almost five years. In that time so much and so little has happened. So I'll hit the highlights. I would also like to apologise that this will not be as lengthy a post as I would like, as I must go to work soon, where blogging sites are blocked by the company firewall. I'm going to be arriving later than I would like, but with my flexible schedule, this is not a problem.

A couple months after my last post, I found out my wife was pregnant, and I am now a Da with an almost four year old little boy

We have gone from living in an apartment, to living with my mother, both to help her, and to help us, as we pay down our debts (which, I am proud to say are not that much higher than they were with my last post, considering that my son was born without insurance)

After a few jobs, I am now a professional, salaried code-smith

I had my gallbladder out last year

I started a paleo diet a couple months ago and have already lost noticeable weight.

So, this brings us to what is important to me now, specifically, which goals; some are old goals, some are seemingly new and where I am on those goals. Many of these feed into and off of each other, as they should.

Debt Freedom

– probably my longest term goal I am actively working on. I still have tens of thousands of US Dollars to go (babies are expensive), but I am whittling it down bit by bit.

A House

– this will increase my debt, but it is not only worth it, but necessary. We will be purchasing a small inexpensive house that can be paid off relatively quickly, and then, with no mortgage, and no rent, the rest of the debt should melt away quickly. Plus, this will allow me to complete or start some other goals like:

Home Food Production

(including a garden and small livestock (depending on regulations) such as rabbits, chickens, goats, etc.)

Home Smithy

– over the past few years I have acquired my own forge and blower, now, the only basic equipment I am only lacking is an anvil, a vice, and a good pair of tongs.

Self-Sufficiency

– I do not like being dependant upon the systems of support, knowing not only does it not take much to bring them crashing down, but that becoming self-sufficient saves money and increases wealth and freedom. The more self-sufficient we are, the less outside income is required. Our biggest hurdle here is our debt, which I've mentioned above.

Highland Games

– I am tired of being overweight and unfit. As stated above I have recently started on a Paleo diet, which is a low-carb diet that boils down to no grains, no legumes, no starchy roots, prefer meat from happy animals over unhappy, prefer unprocessed over processed. Rather than set a weight goal, I have a fitness goal. I will seriously compete in a Highland Games before Yule 2012. Current aiming for participating in the Appalachian Celtic Festival and Highland Games on Labor Day Weekend of that year.

Bladesmithing

– Once I get the home smithy up and running, it's back to the forge to work on my bladesmithing skills. I will be joining the American Bladesmith Society ( ABS ) and once again working towards turning a hobby into a living (which becomes easier as we increase our self-sufficiency and decrease our required income).

Those are my major goals right now, so in this post I've talked about my past and my future. In my next post I plan to talk about where I am now, and what I'm doing to work toward some of these goals.

Soot Happens, but you clean yourself up when you need to (even if it takes years). If you find that life isn't where you want it, just toss it back in the coals, bring it to heat, and reforge.